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Monday, January 31, 2011

A few years ago I had stumbled across Test Tubes at my local craft store and thought they'd be fun to use in various projects. It all started out with a simple Single Test Tube Holder that I created, then came the Double, Triple and Quad Holders (all templates are available on my blog sidebar). Over the years, I've altered my patterns for various images I wanted to incorporate with the holders.

The fab Van Houten's Cocoa image is from the Artistic Outpost Think and Wonder Plate, and I thought it would would perfectly with the Test Tubes. I did have to create a new pattern to accommodate the larger ATC sized image.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

With February around the corner, we just can't wait to get romance in the air with our new Art Exchange!

We've got another combination for you this time - media and image - coasters/beer mats with hearts somewhere on the piece. You may also use bases cut using large dies such as Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Dies.

In order to participate in the exchange, you will need to become a member of the Yahoo Group, so that we can maintain proper communication. The membership process, including a short questionnaire, is quick and easy.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

As our regular readers know, our archives are filled with fabulous tutorials by our Founding Femmes, the glorious Gingers, our Monthly Muses and our Special Guests! While we love to bring your brand-new tutorials, it is also fun take a second look at some of the amazing ones that have already been posted!

This month, with our focus on "hot" techniques, I decided to take up Debby Boltman's awesome tutorial on Gilded Paper which originally appeared on the blog on December 26, 2009. When I first saw it, I was delighted with the fabulous and rich look this technique gave to simple cardstock.

Debby used a fantastic combination of kraft cardstock with gold and black embossing powders and inks. I wanted to see what other fabulous color combinations would work. With Valentine's Day on the way, I decided to start with a base of pink cardstock and accent it with red and gold.

To start, I crumpled the piece of pink cardstock and then ran some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink over the creases.

I then poured embossing powder over the cardstock, tapping off the excess. The embossing powder should stick just to your inked areas. Of course, in my studio, embossing powder seems to stick to everything!! Especially since someone...no idea who...knocked the red embossing powder over my entire work surface.

Once I had the powder in place, I heat set it with my handy dandy heat tool. I hold small pieces like this with a hemostat (mosquito forceps) that my husband gave me so I would stop burning my fingers. Tweezers or an alligator clip on a handle (like you get in chalk sets) also work exceptionally well.

Next, I recrumpled my paper to create new break lines and then flattened it out again. This time, I lightly swept gold ink over the creases.

I repeated the process of applying embossing powder, gold this time, and heat setting it. As Debby mentions in her tutorial, you want to overlap the two colors here and there and the double melt of the embossing powder creates a wonderful effect.

Once I had done this step, I wanted to soften the transition between the pink, red and gold. I lightly sponged on some Spun Sugar Distress Ink to deepen the color here and there. To finish off my piece of gilded paper, I ran my brayer over it, embossed side down, in both directions to flatten it out. Normally, I would iron a wrinkle-distressed paper, but in this instance that would remove the lovely embossing.

I cut a piece out of a music sheet to act as a backdrop, sponged Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks onto the surface to create a coordinating background. I stamped my image onto yet another piece of pink cardstock and embossed it with fine black embossing powder.

Stamp credit: Oxford Impressions

When you assemble a card using a piece of fabulous gilded paper, you may want to use glue dots rather than flat adhesive to compensate for the uneven surface.

I made another piece using the same color combination and used my Sizzix (yup, that really old red and white one) to cut out some hearts.

Stamp credit: Penny Black

Here are my two other color combination I tried:

Copper and BlackStamp credits: The Artistic Stamper

Denim Blue and SilverStamp credits: Stampington and Inkadinkado

This technique is a wonderful way to dress up Valentines, Birthday cards and add extra sparkle to all your creations. Your turn!

Now onto our fabulous Ginger Gems. When each challenge closes, we also pick 10 Ginger Gems - fabulous creations that we feel really exemplify that challenge's objective. The Ginger Gems appear in a slide show in the blog sidebar for the entire week, as well as in this wrap-up post, and their creators have the honor of displaying this Ginger Gems blog badge.

For more information about Ginger Gems and entering our challenges, please visit the FAQ page.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The players of this challenge were wonderfully creative in the use of these hardy winter colors. Thanks to all who submitted! Your art was awesome.

Remember, to be a Ginger Gem or a Home Page Artist, you have to do the following:

1) Follow the challenge mandate - use the colors, theme or supply indicated;2) Link back to Gingersnap Creations (and list our name correctly); and3) When using the Linky, make sure to link to your post and not just to your blog!

Also, do not make your title your link to us as it is impossible to link to you if you do that!

We have had to discount some fantastic entries for not following these simple rules which is a shame!

Now onto our fabulous Ginger Gems. When each challenge closes, we also pick 10 Ginger Gems - fabulous creations that we feel really exemplify that challenge's objective. The Ginger Gems appear in a slide show in the blog sidebar for the entire week, as well as in this wrap-up post, and their creators have the honor of displaying this Ginger Gems blog badge.

For more information about Ginger Gems and entering our challenges, please visit the FAQ page.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Coffee. It's not just for breakfast, lunch and dinner anymore. It's also for making lovely background papers for your cards! This is an easy, sort'a messy process that will give you a gorgeous antique distress. Bonus: It smells good, too!

Here's what you'll need:

A sheet of white mulberry paper

A sheet of plain, white, sturdy cardstock

A mister bottle of water

Ground coffee: about 1/4 cup each fine and course

A nonstick craft mat

Spray adhesive or Matte Multi Medium (not shown)

I used mulberry paper because it can withstand being saturated with water. Canvas (regular or sticky-back) and other natural fabrics would also work.

Twodifferent grinds of coffee make for more variety in your stain patterns, but if you only have regular grind, it will work, too. Generally, the finer the grind, the deeper the stain. Same goes for "the darker the roast..."

Begin by placing your mulberry paper on your nonstick craft sheet and dampen it with water. It should be uniformly wet, but not dripping. Pre-wetting the paper helps the stain to "take" better.

Sprinkle the ground coffee all over the wet paper, being sure to vary the thickness of the grounds. The paper should be almost completely covered.

Mist water over the ground coffee. Hold your mister bottle far enough away that it doesn't blow the coffee grounds all over the place (voice of experience here).

Very, very gently press the damp ground into the paper. Already, you'll see the stain beginning to seep into the paper.

Okay, it's Break Time! Let this dry completely. It will take several hours, or ideally, let it sit overnight.

Once it's bone dry, gently brush the coffee grounds from the mulberry paper. Use your hand or a soft brush and keep going until you can no longer feel any grittiness.

Beneath all those grounds you'll find a lovely piece of antiqued, distressed paper! Let's turn it into a sturdy sheet of background paper...

To really allow the color variations to show up, adhere your coffee-stained mulberry paper to a piece of sturdy white cardstock using the adhesive of your choice. I used a high-tack spray to avoid curling the cardstock, but Matte Multi Medium would work, too.

Press the mulberry firmly onto the cardstock, and don't be afraid to let it wrinkle a little. This will give the piece a really cool texture.

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We've Moved!

After 3 wonderful years of Gingersnap Creations, the Founding Femmes and Gingers are off on new adventures!

As of April 2012, Gingersnap Creations has transformed into a new blogozine, Unruly PaperArts, complete with tutorials, interviews, reviews, and unruly art and articles by our regular columnists and guest contributors. Come play our monthly Reader Art Quests and have your art featured in the next issue of UPA.